Updating my FAQ's Page

I'd love to hear any of your blog/life/crafty/vintage related questions in the comment section below so I can update my FAQ page and keep it fresh and relevant. I know you guys are DYING to know if I floss my teeth every day. Ha! (For the record, I don't.) Thanks in advance for keeping it polite.

The blog makeover is coming along nicely and will be ready for action tomorrow afternoon!

xoxo,
Rachel

Work In Progress

I've been spending most of my increments of work time rebranding and creating a new blog over on Typepad. It's given me a new appreciation for how much work goes into these things, even for those who aren't spending over two hours figuring out how to correctly code a nav bar. I plan on sharing a full post (or two) on how I decided to make a change, what tools I've used to feel slightly more adequate, and some tutorials that helped fill in the blanks.

I spent most of Saturday afternoon clearing brush from a fence line in our backyard for a background for a banner photo idea. Then I scrapped it. I also hauled (with help from the poison ivy-covered husband) props out to the other side of my house for another banner idea, spent two hours designing said banner idea, and then scrapped that one this afternoon after coming up with a third idea.

It's been quite the challenge but I haven't felt this excited about having learned something technical and complex since college. It feels good to have set a big goal and then knuckle sandwiched it into submission. This may lead to setting more goals. WATCH out.

I'd like to publicly thank Elise Blaha Cripe for offering her class on blog design and saving my night with some post-class assistance in coding. I heart that girl.

I hope you have a lovely Memorial Day. We're celebrating with a handful of neighbors and remembering those who have served and sacrificed for our country. There will be ice cream and a kiddie sized swimming pool involved.

xoxo,
Rachel

Running In Place

Going to bed a bit early tonight. I looked in the mirror this morning and it really bothered me how tired I looked. I'm bad at going to bed before 11:00 p.m. but that's my goal bedtime. Starting...tomorrow night. Look for a long overdue Vintage Here, Vintage There post on Friday as well as sponsor giveaways!

Sweet dreams,

Rachel

Just Pull The Blanket Over Your Head

Today's sunny, breezy, warmish weather paired with a porch project involving outdoor string lights reminded me that summer is almost, almost here. It took me back to last summer's family vacation to Destin, FL and the perfect afternoon Ruby, Brett and I had the day before we went home.

I made this beach blanket out of some of my favorite vintage sheets the week before we left for that trip, sewing late into the night to make sure it was finished before we boarded the plane the next morning! It is soft and light for summer days but nice and large so the whole family can fit on it.

Today, however, I just wanted to crawl under it and hide from tornadoes. Joplin, MO is only an hour up the road from us and was completely devastated by an F5 tornado earlier this week. I couldn't stop reading tweets about it and checking news sites for the latest information. Then I got a phone call from my mom this afternoon saying they were corralling everyone at her school into the safe room and that she loved me. I could hear the adrenaline in her voice and started calling the rest of the family in OK to see what they knew.

I called my dad who was on the road coming back from a work event and passed along the message from Mom that he shouldn't drive any further North. I don't think he paid any attention to that because he ended up in the basement of a hospital pretty close to their home. I couldn't reach them for awhile so I called my grandparents to get news updates and stayed glued to Twitter and online news sites.

I called my Meemaw when Brett told me one of the tornadoes was headed towards her town and she told me she was headed to the closet. It skipped her town and headed to Shawnee, the town we went to college in and still have good friends in. Then I heard it was headed to Ada and called my grandparents again to check on them.

A little later and another tornado was headed towards the Dallas area, which makes sense, BECAUSE THAT'S NEAR WHERE THE REST OF MY SIDE OF THE FAMILY LIVES. I felt like a crazy woman! Thankfully, all were safe at the end of the day. Except as I type it's the end of the day and the storms are headed to Springfield. Awesome.

I'm so thankful for the safety of my family after seeing the devastation in Joplin. I will forever take tornado warnings and sirens more seriously. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers today as I shared my concern for family on Twitter. My heart goes out to those who have sad stories to tell.

I'm off to hide under my blanket until I hear either the sirens or the sound of a four year old saying he's ready for breakfast.

xoxo,
Rachel

The Monday After

I will always remember hearing about it on Twitter first. Nothing's over but I'll still take it. I'll take a little hope that things have a chance of shifting.

I'm proud of my brother and husband and the ways they are committed to serving their country and wonder how this changes things. IF this changes things.

I stayed up way too late thinking about all of this. Remind me to buy a newspaper or two.

xo,
Rachel

Birthday Weekend in Instagrams

We started the weekend off on Friday morning with Starbucks on the way out of town and made the trip to Oklahoma City to have our first date weekend (since kids). Ruby passed the time reading Sebastian's comic books, I enjoyed the eye candy from Bazaar Style, and worked on hand piecing flowers for a new hexagon project. All of this in between handing out snacks, passing out toys, and calling the police on intoxicated drivers. Yes, that happened.

We dropped the kids off at my parents house, freshened up, and headed to Midtown.

We met our good friends from college, Alicja and Brad, at Cafe Do Brazil for appetizers, headed to Iguana for dinner, hit up Shop Good to browse the racks, and finished things off at Sara Sara Cupcakes!

The weather was looking scary so our friends headed home and we hit up Starbucks for a late night drink before heading to my parents. It was such a relaxing night. I couldn't wait to start it all over again the next morning!

Saturday my parents headed to my grandparent's house with the kids and Brett and I struck out on our own to see the sights! Now, we spent about five and a half year in Shawnee, OK during college and made frequent trips into OKC with Brett working at Starbucks and Tinker but we NEVER knew about some of the fantastic things OKC had to offer back then.

The Paseo District was pretty great and we knew about some great venues for live music but there is SO much more that's opened up since then. I asked about what we should do on Twitter and a few OKC locals told me about some of their favorite parts of the city.

Let's start with Cuppies and Joe. We graduated with the Diefs, the beautiful and talented ladies that are part of the family that opened the lovely cupcake and coffee shop, and got to visit a bit with Elizabeth. We kind of skipped lunch and went straight for the cupcakes and coffee and it was pure bliss. Then we found Guestroom Records and spent about an hour and most of Brett's birthday money on some used records.

Next up was the Plaza District (thanks, Dana and Julie!) to browse Collected Thread and RetrOKC. We met a lovely gal (whose name escapes me now) who welcomed us and told us about the shop and how fantastic that last few First Friday events have been in that area. It was full of fun product from Etsy vendors and locals and we picked up a few pretties.

RetrOKC was a well-curated little shop full of your favorite MCM finds. I asked the owner, Mike, if he had any Catherineholm and he pointed me to his personal collection behind the counter. I was sad. It was fabulous. And not for sale. There were some pretty enamel ware, paint-by-numbers, kitschy Polaroid glasses, and some great chairs, though. A must see if you're in the area! We didn't have time to visit a few others on the list but that just means it'll be even more exciting next time we're around!

We left the Plaza District to see Brad and Alicja's new cafe, Sips, in Shawnee. It's on main street in downtown Shawnee and serves delicious sandwiches, sweets, and Elemental coffee. Brad, being a treasure hunter himself, took us to a few of his favorite places - one of them being way off the beaten path. I found these pretty enamel flower pins as well as some Pyrex and a fun vintage watering can for the front porch flowers. Thanks for the thrifting, Brad!

That night we landed in Ada to stay with my grandparents and go to church with my family the next morning on Easter Sunday. There was an Easter basket opening, church, lunch, and an unorthodox indoor Easter egg hunt that my mom took care of while we packed quickly to get back on the road. We had to make it home that night with enough time for Brett to work on his plan to lead PT for the ROTC the next morning at 5:30 a.m.

Long story short, we stopped at a Starbucks in Tulsa for a potty break and refreshments only to realize our car wasn't going to turn back on when we were ready to leave. That middle picture is about how that felt. We got a tow, found a hotel, and e-mailed people to delegate Brett's responsibilities. Popcorn and Cheez-its from the vending machine and two hours of Disney channel and the kids were happy. We took it in stride and decided to chill out about things.

The next afternoon our car was fixed and we were free!!! Since we were in Tulsa without needing to rush home we visited Ashley and Breese in the hospital. I hadn't seen Ashley in about eight years and wasn't able to get in touch with her before we walked through the hospital room door but really enjoyed getting to see them! It kind of redeemed the whole breaking down part and we promised to meet up at a flea market rather than a hospital the next time.

We finally made it home after a stop at my favorite flea market outside of Joplin that was miraculously still open at 6:00 p.m. It was the happy ending to our happy weekend! We truly enjoyed some time as a couple to celebrate Brett's birthday and are so thankful that my parents and grandparents were so generous with their time and attention regarding our kids. It was kind of great to know Ruby could be away from me for so long without freaking out and makes me excited for the next time we can do this!

Thanks to Instagram we now have some fun reminders of everything we did on our weekend date! I'd love to hear from anyone else that lives in or has visited OKC and what kind of places you love to visit. I'm planning on finding a new place every time we go and I know other people would love to hear about them, too!
xoxo,
Rachel

The Happiest Weekend

We went to Oklahoma City to celebrate Brett's 30th birthday (it's the 26th) and had THE BEST TIME! We aren't quite back yet, though, as our car decided not to start after a quick potty break at a Starbucks in Tulsa on the way home. We're hanging out at a hotel tonight and taking the car in to a garage in the morning to see if we can get it taken care of and be on our way. In the meantime, we're going to try and enjoy this extension of our little weekend away.

I hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend and I look forward to catching some of your weekend recap blog posts in between car repairs and napping children. I'm planning a little recap of our own with a list of all the places we went thanks to some helpful local ladies!

xo,
Rachel

Sicky, Sick, Sick

We've had two full days (and one long night) of fevers, vomit, achy legs, extra naps, Pedialyte, piles and piles of soiled laundry, little ones needing extra holding, and big ones just wanting those germs to work their way out. The timing could not have been better, though, as far as Brett's schedule goes. Had this happened over the weekend while he was away and while I was wrapping up E-Course writing...well, I don't know what I would've done.

We're hoping the fevers break soon and appetites return. We're kind of forcing liquids on Sebastian and Ruby is still able to nurse so she's doing a bit better than him. Other than that, I'm enjoying the sunshine outside, some happy mail, and looking forward to some lazy (non-sick) days once we catch up on laundry and e-mail. Here's to a boring rest of the month!

Thank you for the enthusiastic response to Style Your Space! It's so exciting to hear what students have been saying and has definitely been a bright spot these last two days!

I hope you're well and happy.
xo,
Rachel

Our Happy Cabinets

Every time I open this particular cabinet I feel a little thrill. I figure I might as well organize the colorful dishware to make putting them away more fun. You'll notice our stack of plates is pretty short. I've collected all of these over the last three years and only bring things home that I need or absolutely love these days. If it's aqua or yellow, it's hard to resist. My mom gave me her old Tupperware cups from my childhood and I've since found the mini versions of them. Good memories!

This weekend has been pretty relaxed at home. We had a play date this morning with my friend, Katy, and her three kids and then watched Revolutionary Road and had homemade chicken and vegetable soup. Sebastian tried a new food (yay!)and Ruby has mastered her 'excited arms' dance move. I hope to catch that on video one of these days.

Brett and I are both feeling a little under the weather tonight so it'll be more relaxing and catching up on housework tomorrow. We treated ourselves to Andy's frozen custard on Friday night after a whole month of eating a Paleo diet (with only a few cheats) and as delicious as it was, we think it's why we feel so cruddy today. Sugar shock!

What are you doing this weekend?

xoxo,
Rachel

p.s. Check out the post below on Home Ec. $10 from each purchase this weekend (until Monday afternoon) will go to Red Cross!

Making Time for Crafts

The kids and I had an afternoon to kill at home while Brett studied for a test earlier this week. We'd already gone for a wagon ride through the neighborhood, jumped on our neighbor's trampoline, read some books, made a mess at lunch time, and watched Pink Panther on Netflix.

I decided it was time to introduce Ruby to the joys of water colors. Sebastian isn't always up for crafting when I suggest a new project but he's always up for painting with water colors. He spent a good ten minutes working on his project this time, which is a good eight minutes longer than he used to. That made me happy.

Ruby took to that paint set like it was an old hobby of hers. I did catch her trying to drink the dirty water, sucking the water off the brush, stealing her brother's paint brush, and painting on my arm but she lasted as long as Sebastian and ended up getting some color on her paper coffee filter.

When we were through I had to wrestle it away for a pic. It was headed for her mouth. I may save it forever.

Sebastian ended up with a stained glass effect which I thought was interesting. I wonder what this type of painting is supposed to tell me about my child.

We got the popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners out of the craft box and made flowers out of the paper coffee filters. I have about a bajillion more from a garage sale that may turn into a garland one of these days.

I need to remember to sit down with the paint sets more often. Ruby is much more interested in coloring than Sebastian ever was (or still is) at her age so it's been fun to encourage that in her. I never had to worry about marks on the walls with Sebastian, though. Thank goodness for Magic Erasers.

Sebastian was so proud of his paper flower when he was done. It was a nice little break from sword fights, couch jumping, karate chops, and crashing block towers.

xoxo,
Rachel

Inherited

Ruby requested an updated head shot. Look at that pucker.

I'm not sure how many Breyer horses from my childhood collection are left in the box in my parent's attic but they brought two of my favorites last November for Ruby's birthday party. She likes to romp them around and feed them from her cup and has even tried riding one. I love seeing her take an interest in things that used to be mine!

Horsey kisses look a lot like mouth-to-mouth at our house.

xoxo,
Rachel

P.S. I'm really thankful for so many fabulous sponsors this month! I give you permission to take a break from your day and peruse a few of their shops and blogs. It'll be worth your while!

Past and Present

I thought it'd be interesting to share some things about myself from my past and my present since I mostly share about projects and family life. It's fun to remember what I was like at age ten and twenty as I approach thirty this August. (EEK!)

Past

* I didn't have any hair until I was two. Then it was ringlets for awhile. I even had a little bit of a ringlet mullet. Then it was just kind of bushy. Then I had puffy bangs. I finally figured out what to do with my curls again in eighth grade.

* I was much more comfortable on the soccer field than chatting with girl's about hair and make up in seventh grade. I still feel that tom boy in me.

* My English teachers were the most formative teachers throughout my school years. Even the grammar class I took my junior year of college, the one that stressed me out so much that I got a stomach ulcer, taught me something about myself.

* I've been bitten, thrown, and bucked off three different horses. I still feel my ten year old self get excited whenever I see one in a pasture.

* I used to ride bikes with my brother across town to get slushies from a random candy store. We rode bikes everywhere! I loved having that kind of freedom as a kid.

* I remember a lot of Madonna, Michael Jackson, NKOTB, and roller skating.

* I was the one in our group that got violently sick on a mission trip to China in high school.

* The worst thing I did in high school was drive my new car over the Varsity soccer fields to impress my boyfriend. I did donuts in broad daylight and my brother's friend saw me and told my parents.

* I was the new girl at school my freshman year of high school and really liked the attention.

* I've always had to work hard at friendships with girls.

* I went to Paris when I was 18 but it was too cloudy to go up the Eiffel tower and I skipped the Louvre because I had NO IDEA what it was. Silly me.

Present

* I dream of deep friendships, a big old house, slow days, and parties in our backyard.

* I went to renew my license on Monday and failed my driving test. I now have a permit until I take it again next week. This was quite humbling. Brett said it just added to my interestingness. He's nice.

* I love to sew more than I love to journal and I love to thrift more than I love to sew.

* This is the longest my hair has ever been.

* My favorite new shirt (shown above) is from the 80's and kind of reminds me of my mom (in the 80's).

* I miss California. There is no place like California.

* I struggle with initiating things that are necessary to strong friendships. This includes but is not limited to e-mails, phone calls, coffee dates, and surprise visits.

* I'm really good at asking questions and love hearing people's stories.

* I am kind of looking forward to my thirties.

What about you? Feel free to share your own Past and Present below or on your own blog. Let's get personal, personal.

xoxo,
Rachel

On The Edge of Spring Break

The last five weeks or so have been odd. It started out with a strong reason to believe I might be pregnant. You know, one of those accidental lapses in judgment that leaves you holding your breath for as long as it takes to know if you need to buy a bigger vehicle.

Well, for the following three weeks I felt queasy every afternoon, exhausted and lethargic in the early evening, and a tad bit more emotional than usual. I was seriously convinced that this was round three. I couldn't remember when my last cycle was so I was taking a pregnancy test every two days. I think I went through six of them. All negative.

Still the nausea and fatigue kept up and I tried not to get a little excited as all of the familiar feelings of pregnancy set in. I have felt it at least two weeks before tests will confirm it every time before but was still pretty aware of how uncertain these early weeks can be. I finally figured out the first day of my last cycle based off of a specific feminine needs product purchased at Walgreens on the same day (thank you, online banking) and was still a week away from possibly seeing a positive test.

Three weeks of hanging in limbo and thinking you know but not having confirmation can make a girl crazy. Without wanting to go into too much detail, I had some signs of my cycle show up a few days early and decided all of that nausea and fatigue was just exhaustion or some bug. Then I read online that you can have some signs of your cycle without it being your cycle. I wasn't having any cramping so it made sense. I got a little hopeful again. I drove to Walgreens for my last two tests. The first one was negative. I waited three more days. The second one was negative.

I gave it up. I decided my body may have been headed that direction but something didn't take early on and things got flushed out with the regular run of things. I couldn't help but be both relieved and extremely sad. I still had nausea and fatigue and really strong emotions for another week which was probably just the hormones in my body winding down. I didn't know what to label what had happened or whether to trust my body in what it was telling me since I didn't have any proof. Proof being a plus sign on a stick.

It happens to lots of women and they don't even know. Mostly I realized I really do want another child. Brett and I have this little time line of when we can start trying again but we know it's not completely in our control. In the meantime I'm hoping to get back to a weight that feels healthier. Which brings me to the last week...

A few days after I started finally feeling good again (no more nausea or fatigue) Brett proposed that we start a new eating plan. It's called the Paleo plan and basically shows you how to eat healthy, unprocessed foods to have higher energy levels, lose weight, and shift your body's chemistry from acid to alkaline. There are a ton of diets out there and I'm not into dieting but I knew this one would help me reshape my eating habits in a way that would bring positive changes and, with some modifications, become a new lifestyle.

No refined sugar, grains, or dairy. This means no creamer in my coffee.

Yeah.

So, we've been drinking lots of tea, eating lean meats, hard boiling eggs, having big salads full of vegetables, and enjoying lots of Lara bars. The first three days I felt hungry and unsatisfied. The next two days I felt like I had the flu but wasn't as hungry. Yesterday I finally felt great and even though I haven't lost much weight yet, my body feels better. We're hoping to keep this up for a few more weeks to reap the benefits and then who knows what modifications we'll make after that. It feels exciting, though!

Needless to say, the last five weeks I've been feeling pretty yucky, which has led to a shift in priorities and how much time I spend blogging. This warmer weather has shown up in Missouri just in time. Like a consolation prize or something.

I felt insecure about sharing my three weeks in limbo but wanted to let you know where my head has been lately. I'm looking forward to a fun weekend at home working on projects (and hopefully answering a few e-mails). Spring break starts today for us!!!

Thanks so much for your presence here.

xoxo,
Rachel

Sunshine Kids

We want more sun!
xo,
Rachel

This Is Supposed To Be Her Birthday Present

I found this vintage baby bed last week in town. I was hoping to save it for Ruby's birthday but I sat it down on my way in the house and she's been playing in it ever since!

Sorry it's been a little quiet all of the sudden over here. I haven't been feeling well and we've been getting the house ready for my parent's visit this weekend. They've been keeping Sebastian busy all afternoon and I've been enjoying the down time! Thanks, mom and dad!

Be back soon with a pretty house tour!
xoxo,
Rachel

We Like Long Weekends!

We really had a four day Valentine's weekend at our house this year. Other than the military ball, Brett had drill this weekend so spent a lot of time together as a family on Friday and Monday. It was exactly the kind of low stress weekend that I needed to rebound from earlier in the week!

On Friday we went to PetSmart to see puppies!!! We wanted Ruby to get a little more comfortable with them than she has been because we're really itching to get a dog. We got to play with a sweet little beagle that let both kids hold her and only chewed on Brett's shoes a little bit. She smelled so good!!! As all new little things smell! It wasn't hard to give her back but it did make everyone even more eager for our first dog!

We went to Target to get Sebastian a Transformer with some Valentine money he got from his great-grandparents and then stopped at Red Velvet to look for a pretty dress. We ran into Katie and her sweet family, got to meet Mallory's boyfriend that drove all day to see her, Wes, one of the sweetest souls out there, and those two beautiful girls that work there and their Valentines! (Emma, I hope I didn't leak that too early!) ;) It was like this really fun unplanned party where the kids entertained themselves and everyone got to catch up!

On Saturday the kids and I colored a huge Valentine, watched videos, read some books, avoided the laundry, and hung out until it was time to get ready for the ball. Then they had fun with their Aunt Brittany while we went to the ball.

On Sunday Sebastian helped me make sugar cookies! The only cookie cutter we could find was a Halloween cat and we were out of red food coloring because we used it up on home made play-dough. SO, we used a jar lid for circle cookies and decided to name the other ones Spring Cat cookies! Ha!

I got the kids dressed for Valentine's Day photos once Brett got home and was so happy that they were compliant! I may have bribed Sebastian with a sugar cookie. Then we delivered cookies to our friends across the street and our friends across town. Our kids played in the melting snow while Katy and I got to chat a little.

On Monday we enjoyed a lazy morning before heading to the park to play. Then it was the Purple Burrito for lunch with Mexican Cokes, a trip to the record store to pick up the new Bright Eyes a day early, and back home for nap time. Brett enjoyed a little snooze as well so I ventured out to the thrifts for the first time in three weeks! THREE WEEKS! I came home with some pretty things and was very good about not bringing home a few others.

Brett got both of the kids Valentine cards as well as me that we opened over coffee and cereal. We got some fun Valentine packages in the mail from my parents and a package of vintage shoes and a sweet little sweater from Rubyellen! Then the flowers Brett had ordered arrived while he was in class that night. It was a day full of happy gifts!

The weather was just beautiful (at least for February!) and we enjoyed some sidewalk chalk time with our favorite neighbors. It's amazing what sunshine will do for someone's well being, isn't it?

Ha! This is my new favorite photo of this boy!

Sebastian wore: Shirt and vest, Target. Tie, handmade from vintage feed sack material. Pants and shoes, thrifted.
Ruby wore: Cardigan, thrifted. Vintage dress, thrifted. Black tights, Babies R'Us. Pink sparkle shoes, gifted from Holly!

I feel so much better after such a fun weekend and a change of pace. Your sweet comments last week were touching and encouraging to me. Thank you. I'm looking forward to a week of warm-ish temperatures and some fun projects for some posts this week!

What are you looking forward to?

xoxo,
Rachel